Axis Bank Acquisition Buzz – To Be Bought By Kotak Mahindra Bank

If we may believe on a report by brokerage firm Nomura Financial Advisory Services, the time is ripe for Kotak Mahindra Bank to buy Axis Bank. Bank could be a potential acquisition target after its board accepted managing director Shikha Sharma’s plea to cut her fourth three-year term to seven months under RBI pressure.

Shikha Sharma, who joined Axis Bank in 2009, will now step down on 31 December 2018. Her fourth term as managing director and chief executive was originally set to end in June 2021.

A likely deal between Kotak and Axis will make the combined entity the second largest private bank in the country in terms of loans and the largest in terms of branches.

The RBI requires promoters of private banks to bring down their holding to 15 per cent within 12 years of commencement of operations. The central bank has allowed Kotak Bank’s promoter Uday Kotak to bring down his holding in the bank to 15 per cent by March 2020. Uday Kotak and his family currently hold 30.06 per cent stake in the company.